Line guide



April 1964 P. F. ADELMAN 3,129,695

LINE GUIDE ol iginal Filed April 5. 1960 BY 94. Z NW United States Patent Ofiice 3,129,695 Patented Apr. 21, 1964 3,1295% LEJE GUEDE Pauiine F. Adeiman, 8509 Manchester Road, Silver Spring, Md. Continuation of application Ser. No. 29,086, Apr. 5, 1960. This application Sept. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 226,482

. 2 Ciaims. (6!. 120-33) This invention relates to a line guide for typewritten sheets of paper, books, stenographic notes and the like.

Line markers have been used by typists for many years, but these devices have been used in conjunction with copy holders, stands and the like. The most commonly used line marker consisted of an elongated flat bar having a spring pivoted clamp at one end. Thesedevices clamped the paper to a copy holder and, while they function properly to enable the typist to follow a single line, they are difficult to move downwardly from line to line and require considerable time of the typist to reset the guide. It has also been proposed to use a magnetic line guide and while these have been more satisfactory than the pivoted clamp type, they are relatively expensive to manufacture and require the cooperation of a specially manufactured copy holder made from ferrous metal. Also, none of the line markers of the prior art is capable of use in copying from texts or other books where pages are fixed and not removable, as, for example, is frequently required of legal stenographers in copying case citations.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an easily operable device to enable a typist to attach the same to a sheet of paper, whether it is a single sheet or found in a book, which has lines of written matter thereon so that the typist can follow a single line of written matter, and also enable the typist to easily and quickly move the line guide downwardly from one line to another as the copying progresses.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a line marker which is self-contained and does not have to be used in conjunction with a copy holder.

Another object of the invention is to provide a line marker which can be used with a stenographic or other type of book, with or without a copy holder.

A further object of the invention is to provide a line marker which can be easfly and quickly moved from line to line, as the copying progresses, by a simple movement of the typists hand.

Still other objects of the invention are to provide a line guide which eliminates the deficiencies of the prior art, accomplishes the above-mentioned objects and which is inexpensive to manufacture and has only three parts which do not require any mechanical movement relative to each other in operation.

Referring now to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective rear view of the preferred form of my invention showing the line marker secured to a sheet of paper;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the preferred form of my invention taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but showing a modification of my invention.

Reference character 2 is a flat elongated strip which constitutes the main portion of the line guide and is preferably formed of opaque plastic or other suitable material and is inflexible in a plane parallel to the sheet of paper and flexible in a plane perpendicular to the paper. A rectangularly shaped housing 4 is permanently secured to the front face of the flat strip 2. If the flat strip 2 is formed of plastic material as shown in the drawings, then it is preferable to form the housing 4 of similar material so that the strip and housing may be molded in one operation. In the preferred form of the invention as shown in FIGURES 1 through 3, the housing 4 is closed on all sides except the rear side, which is open as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3.

A permanent magnet 6, of any type, is frictionally or otherwise permanently secured in the housing 4 and the poles 8 and 10 of the magnet 6 face toward and extend slightly beyond the rear face of the strip 2.

An elongated rod, bar or the like 12, which is formed of flexible ferrous metal, has one of its ends permanently secured adjacent one end of the strip 2 and the other end of the rod 12 is unsecured to the strip 2. As seen in FIGURE 1, the rod 12 is parallel to the strip 2 and is substantially coextensive therewith and is positioned closely adjacent the rear face thereof. It will be noted that a portion of the rod 12 underlies the exposed poles 8 and 1d of the magnet 6.

Again, assuming that the strip 2 is formed of plastic material, then the preferred manner of permanently attaching one end of the rod 12 to one end of the rear face of strip 2 comprises a protuberance 13 molded integrally on the rear face of the strip 2, the protuberance 14 having a bore of the same or slightly less diameter than that of the rod 12 so as to frictionally receive and permanently retain one end of the rod in the bore. The free end 16 of the rod 12 is flared rearwardly as shown at16.

In the modification shown in FIGURE 4, the permanent magnet or magnetized metal 6 is molded completely within the housing 16a and the magnetic attraction of magnet 6 is sufficient to attract the rod 12 thereto through the closed rear side 18. Also, in both forms of the invention the magnetic attraction of member 6 is suflicient to attract the rod 12 through a piece of paper P, such attraction being sufficient to hold the entire line gu1de in its set position on a piece of paper, page of a book, or the like. The magnetic force of magnet 6 should should not be too great, as only little force should be rilquired to move the line guide from one position to the 0 er.

The line guide may be used with or without a copy holder. If a typist is to copy from a single sheet of paper, a copy holder may be used to support the single s eet m the desired position, but the copy holder forms no part of it, and does not cooperate in any way with, the line guide. Stenographic note books usually have strif front and rear covers and are self-supporting to position the pages at the desired angle for the typist, and hence do not require a copy holder. In operation, a typist positions the line guide on a piece of paper P as shown 111 FIGURE 1, the space between the flared end i rod 12 and the rear face of strip 2 enables the line guide to be easily and quickly positioned over a piece of paper and the front portion of the strip 2 positioned handle for the line guide, and as the housing 4 or 16a is of a height less than the strip 2, the housing will not obstmct the typists view of the line to be copied, which Wlll appear just above the upper edge of the front face of strip 2. The magnetic attraction of the permanent magnet or magnetized material 6 will pull the rod 12 towards the rear face of strip 2 and thus hold the line guide to its set position on the paper P. After a line has been copied, the typist exerts a slight downward pressure on the housing 4 or 16a and moves the entire line guide downward on the paper to the next lower line to be copied.

From the above description, it will be seen that the line guide forming the subject matter of the present invention is extremely simple, having only five parts, three of which may be molded into a single integral unit. Hence, the device can be cheaply manufactured, and as none of the parts requires relative mechanical movement, the line guide should last indefinitely. Furthermore, the line guide may be used without requiring a copy holder, and the line guide may be moved downwardly on a sheet of paper step by step by the typist exerting a slight downward pressure on the handle by her hand.

This application is a continuation of my application Serial No. 20,086, filed April 5, 1960, now abandoned.

I claim:

1. A self-contained line marker comprising an elongated strip member having front and rear faces, a permament magnet having poles secured to the front face of said strip member and having a portion thereof extending beyond the front face of said strip member to serve as a handle therefor, and a flexible elongated ferromagnetic member having one of its ends secured to said strip member adjacent one end thereof and the other of its ends unsecured to said strip member, said ferro-magnetie member extending along the rear face of said strip member and underlying said permanent magnet, said permanent magnet being positioned on said strip between the ends thereof, the unsecured end portion of said ferromagnetic member being flared rearwardly away from the rear face of said strip member, said permanent magnet having its poles facing said ferro-magnetic member so that magnetic attraction Will maintain said strip member and ferro-magnetic member in close proximity to each other to frictionally engage a piece of paper.

2. A self-contained line marker as set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that said strip is of plastic material and has a plastic housing extending outwardly from the front face of said strip and that said permanent magnet is secured Within said housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 93,931 Wescott Aug. 17, 1869 1,353,279 Schulthess Sept. 21, 1920 2,541,513 Hassett Feb. 13, 1951 2,585,421 Armand Feb. 12, 1952 2,693,370 Wheatley Nov. 2, 1954 2,763,241 Wagonner Sept. 18, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 743,967 France Jan. 16, 1933 

1. A SELF-CONTAINED LINE MARKER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED STRIP MEMBER HAVING FRONT AND REAR FACES, A PERMANENT MAGNET HAVING POLES SECURED TO THE FRONT FACE OF SAID STRIP MEMBER AND HAVING A PORTION THEREOF EXTENDING BEYOND THE FRONT FACE OF SAID STRIP MEMBER TO SERVE AS A HANDLE THEREFOR, AND A FLEXIBLE ELONGATED FERROMAGNETIC MEMBER HAVING ONE OF ITS ENDS SECURED TO SAID STRIP MEMBER ADJACENT ONE END THEREOF AND THE OTHER OF ITS ENDS UNSECURED TO SAID STRIP MEMBER, SAID FERRO-MAGNETIC MEMBER EXTENDING ALONG THE REAR FACE OF SAID STRIP MEMBER AND UNDERLYING SAID PERMANENT MAGNET, SAID PERMANENT MAGNET BEING POSITIONED ON SAID STRIP BETWEEN THE ENDS THEREOF, THE UNSECURED END PORTION OF SAID FERROMAGNETIC MEMBER BEING FLARED REARWARDLY AWAY FROM THE REAR FACE OF SAID STRIP MEMBER, SAID PERMANENT MAGNET HAVING ITS POLES FACING SAID FERRO-MAGNETIC MEMBER SO THAT MAGNETIC ATTRACTION WILL MAINTAIN SAID STRIP MEMBER AND FERRO-MAGNETIC MEMBER IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO EACH OTHER TO FRICTIONALLY ENGAGE A PIECE OF PAPER. 